Services » Environment & Recreation

The Environment and Recreation Directorate is responsible for the delivery of the following services: Water & Drainage (on behalf of Irish Water), Waste Management Waste Operations and Recreation & Sport . Our approach to care for the Environment is based on the principle of sustainable development i.e. “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”. Cork City Council, in its role as a provider of services such as waste collection, recycling facilities, water and drainage can undertake measures to protect the environment we live in, nevertheless there is a duty on everybody to make their contribution in the area of environmental care.

Since 1 January 2014, responsibility for public water supplies has transferred from local authorities to Irish Water, the new national water services authority. Cork City Council operates public water supplies on behalf of Irish Water.

Since 1 January 2014, responsibility for public water supplies has transferred from local authorities to Irish Water, the new national water services authority. Cork City Council operates public water supplies on behalf of Irish Water.

Water Services

News / Customer Information

Waste Operations

Street Cleaning

Litter Control

Waste Tyre Regulations

Waste Tyre Regulation

While waste tyres are not classified as hazardous they can cause environmental pollution if disposed of incorrectly or irresponsibly. An estimated 35,000 tonnes of waste tyres are generated in Ireland each year and there is a clear need to improve the way this waste stream is managed. The problems are compounded by the absence of hard, reliable data on waste flows for tyres. Considerable work has been undertaken, in conjunction with the tyre industry and other stakeholders, with a view to developing a voluntary industry initiative for waste tyres.

Waste Management (Tyres and Waste Tyres) Regulations 2007

Regulations on the management of waste tyres came into force on 1 January 2008. The Regulations seek to improve information gathering and the tracking of waste tyre flows in Ireland.

The tyre recovery scheme identifies a clear audit trail for tyre collection and recycling. It is an initiative that imposes additional responsibilities on stakeholders and requires their co-operation in ensuring the success of the scheme. The Regulations impose obligations on persons who supply tyres to the Irish market, whether as manufacturers, wholesalers, suppliers, traders, or retailers and on the collectors of waste tyres.

These obligations include the submission of information as prescribed in the Regulations and in the format provided for in the Guidance concerning S.I. No. 664 of 2007 by the 10th day of each quarterly period. They will also be required to prepare and present waste management plans and reports when submitting applications for registration and submit a report to the EPA by the 28th February of each year.

These regulations support the environmentally sound management of waste tyres by providing a regulatory framework for comparing quantities of waste tyres arising with the quantities placed on the market and in tracking the movement of waste tyres from the time they are discarded until they are either reused or processed for recycling and /or recovery.

An exemption from these obligations is available to persons who participate in TRACS the voluntary compliance scheme that has been developed by the tyre industry and which has been approved by the Minister following the making of the Regulations.

Farmers

Provision has been made in the regulations to enable a farmer who requires waste tyres to anchor silage covering to store up to eight waste tyres for every square metre of the floor area of his or her silage pit, without the need to have a waste permit. An example of the quantities permitted is as follows:

Examples of waste tyres permitted to be stored to anchor silage covering

Others requiring waste tyres for genuine reuse, such as marinas, can source waste tyres subject to the approval of local authorities and compliance with the existing regulations governing waste permits. It is a matter for each local authority to adjudicate each case on its own merits, having regard to best environmental practice.